Richard Foster

Richard Foster is a former UK uniformed police officer. He spent is first 10 years of service working on the frontline of tough city policing, later spending the rest of his career working with detectives and specialist investigators in the world of serious and organised crime. Those three decades in British policing have shaped him into one of the most authentic new voices in true crime and memoir writing. Born in Rochdale near Manchester in the UK, he is now based on the south coast in Hampshire. Richard’s career took him from the gritty northern streets of his youth to the charged, unpredictable world of 1990s Portsmouth policing, a city whose locations, characters and humour pulse through his work.

His debut memoir, STOP, POLICE!, blends sharp storytelling with the unvarnished reality of frontline policing. Unlike many police memoirs that focus solely on the job, Richard’s writing digs deeper: into the difficult upbringing that set him on a knife‑edge between two futures. He skirted on the edges of criminality before making the choice that pulled him into the uniform rather than the dock!

His time in policing helped develop an extraordinary resilience which demanded of him after a sudden, life‑threatening brain haemorrhage ended his career.

Richard’s work has been praised for its wit, emotional honesty and cinematic sense of place. His stories capture the human side of policing, the absurd, the tragic, the darkly funny.

Now an author, a cybersecurity consultant and advocate for AVM awareness, Richard continues to write about crime, resilience and the people behind the headlines. His work appeals to readers who want true crime with heart, humour and lived experience — told by someone who has walked the beat, faced the danger, and lived to tell the tale.

After enjoying the process of writing his first book so much, Richard is currently starting on writing a crime fiction series.